


Soft at Heart

by 17angelsprings



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Female Hange Zoë, Fluff and Humor, Rich Hange Zoë, Studying, Stuffed Toys, maybe romantic if you squint, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:35:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28659582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/17angelsprings/pseuds/17angelsprings
Summary: Levi and Hange study for finals at her place and something catches his eye but he has a little difficulty indulging his soft side.LeviHan Secret Santa gift for Cherryx_15.
Relationships: Levi & Hange Zoë, Levi/Hange Zoë
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	Soft at Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cherryx_15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherryx_15/gifts).



As Levi Ackerman entered Sina Academy for high school, the expected turn of events was that he would make the most of his scholarship by studying hard and working his way up to captain of the academy’s soccer team. All so that he could have an outstanding school record that would warrant acceptance to and scholarship to a decent university. Without a doubt he was following through on the former and was certainly on his way to the latter on account of his natural athletic talent as well as his suitable disposition for planning and working with the team. 

Yet despite his excellent academic and athletic performance, Levi didn’t have much of a social life to turn to for discussing anything and everything over lunch or before class. Not that he really had any complaints about that he didn’t have much in common with his peers at school, given that he was struggling financially at home (and quite literally the first Sina Academy student to be accepted on a scholarship ever) while the rest of them were filthy rich. Or so he thought. 

Long story short, top student Erwin Smith took a liking to him and then he introduced him to his friend even more top student Hange Zoë and she very quickly also took a liking to him and so started the foundation needed to have a friend circle at Sina Academy. Starting a solid friendship with her was quite a bit of work for both of them given that Hange’s excitable temperament and tendency for disorganization often conflicted with Levi’s reserved one and need for neatness. However, Hange taught Levi a lot of things, including how it wouldn’t hurt to be honest with himself at least once in a while.

They were standing on opposite sides of a large opened door as Hange gave Levi a friendly wave and motioned him to come in. He waved back and stepped inside her house. Before looking back at her, he looked around the ridiculously spacious interior, comprising lofty walls lined up with tall, elegant windows and connecting to high ceilings. Directly in front of them was a massively wide stairway that eventually diverged into two separate staircases heading in opposite directions. A gigantic family photograph consisting of what Levi presumed to be a younger version of Hange holding a gray kitten and her parents, all of them smiling brightly for the camera. It didn’t surprise him and the image of the gleeful family started warming his heart more than he would like to admit. 

What did surprise at least a little Levi was how clean the house was. But then again this was just the entrance. Maybe the real horrors would await him in her room and/or the kitchen.

As soon as they went up the stairs and opened the door to her room, he was surprised yet again. He certainly would’ve done some things differently but at least he wasn’t knee-deep in papers and unwashed clothes and the carpet floors looked pristine and clear of any dangerous chemicals. 

“I don’t know what you were expecting but I can assure you I don’t perform any experiments here so come on in why don’t you?” Hange asked with an amused tone, as if she somehow managed to read Levi’s mind, and not for the first nor last time either. 

“Of course,” he responded coolly, eyes darting around the interior some more as he actually set foot in. It was very spacious, much larger than his living room and kitchen at home combined. The bed, drawers, closet, bookshelves, and a lit fireplace with two armchairs surrounded them from all sides leaving a large table with books, papers, and writing supplies piled on top of it and plenty of chairs next to it for the two friends to seat themselves on.

Hange trotted to the other side of the table and swiped up a bunch of papers before calling Levi over and pointing to the chair next to her. He nodded and walked over to take his seat, of which he immediately noticed was comfortable yet sturdy and probably too damn expensive to get on his own. That wasn’t important though so he leaned slightly forward in his chair to hear what his study partner was about to say.

She pushed her glasses up her head and cleared her throat then asked “So you were having trouble understanding how to factor these kinds of polynomials, right?” Hange put the papers down on the surface and pointed to the numbers. Levi nodded in affirmation. “Okay then why don’t we start from the beginning?” 

The beginning was easy, it just required factoring out a five. The next part however wasn’t, not unless he used the quadratic formula, which he wasn’t supposed to according to the study guide’s instructions. Without any other alternative approach, he just stared at the problem blankly, trying to figure out what added and multiplied into what and failing to find anything viable. 

As the gears in his brain were still turning, Hange reached for a pencil on the other side of the table and began writing down a large X and filled the spaces with a couple of numbers. Levi cocked his head and eyed her in confusion. She looked back at him, also confused as she inquired “You don’t know about this method?” 

He could only shake his head and then answer “No, I’ve never even seen it before.” 

“Man, your class has been missing out.” Then she started explaining how with a little futzing around by multiplying these two numbers, he would achieve something he can factor much more easily and then get his answer that way. 

Quietly elated at having learned this approach, Levi attempted similar problems and solved them with no issues. At last could he finally put this factoring business behind him and move on to reviewing other things that he would feel much better about by going over them with Hange. 

After a while of explaining concepts and definitions, she excused herself to get them some water. He looked up from the papers and across the room, catching himself looking at the stuffed animals on her bed. It wasn’t overflowing with them but there were still quite a few on there: a dapple-gray horse with a detailed coat, two even more detailed (and somewhat horrifying-looking) human-ish things that Levi presumed Hange called her “Titans,” and a more adorable-looking black cat by contrast. 

Humming some tune and holding a glass full of water in each hand, she came back into the room and pushed the papers to the side and set their drinks down in the middle. Only after hearing the tap to the table did he snap out of faraway look towards her bed and picked up the glass and tipped it towards his lips for a nervous and rather rushed sip, which led to a slight cough after-the-fact. Hange gave Levi a concerned look before he waved it away with his hand. 

Then she looked over her shoulder, and slight embarrassment welled-up to be something more than mild as evidenced by the increasing color in his cheeks that she took no notice of. She set her drink down and walked over to her bed, sweeping all of her plushies into her arms and bringing them towards him. 

She smiled, without a hint of tease. All feelings of shame for letting what he thought was his childish-awe slip through disappeared into thin-air as she placed them between their glasses. Hange picked up her glass again and took her eyes off of Levi and didn’t hesitate to visually trace the details in the stuffed beings presented before him. He reached out to touch the horse’s muzzle like he would sometimes do to a real one. His hand skipped over the Titans, which resulted in Hange giving him a look of mock hurt. Levi glared back at her as if to insist he has no interest in them and an amused grin erupted on her face. 

He brushed his fingers on the cat’s head, instantly taken aback by how velvety it felt. He picked the cat up and held it closer to his chest, poking the plush and squeezing it, wanting to see how soft it really was. 

Hange put down her empty glass and crossed her arms on the table, leaning forward into them. “You can take him.” 

Levi snapped his head back up and tilted his head at her, perplexed. He looked down at the cat then back at her, refusal forming in his expression and he started to put it on the table. 

“I said you could take him,” she insisted, uncrossing her arms and gave the plush cat a pat on the head before pushing it back to him. “C’mon I’m sure he’ll be right at home with you.” 

Knowing that it was impossible to make her take no for an answer at that point, he surrendered to nod and gently tucked it into the pocket of his jacket before leaning into the table himself to further discuss finals’ studies. 

After a few more hours of studying with breaks in-between, the sun looked ever-close to setting on the horizon and the natural light coming through the window had gotten dimmer. The two of them packed up and bade their goodbyes, Hange accompanying Levi to the front gate before cheerfully waving him off. 

On the way home, one hand kept playing with the cat in his pocket, its softness as well as the fact that Hange willingly gave it to him because he wouldn’t admit to wanting one otherwise occupying his mind and calming him as the cold breeze blew over. His basically early-birthday-and-Christmas gift would go next to the only other stuffed animal he ever owned, a round yellow canary gifted to him by his late-mother that he kept in his room, as soon as he got home.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have read this and enjoyed this, thank you! Kudos, bookmarks, comments, and kind feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> It's fairly late for this but I hope you all had great holidays and may 2021 be kind to you!


End file.
